Black Gold Legacy
by Pyralis Anacreon
Summary: Mary Read wasn't hung. She followed the clues to the treasure, reset the traps, and found Anne Bonny again. Hundreds of years later, Tory Brennan and her Virals lift up a flagstone to find a black pit of nothing. They cannot save Loggerhead. AU, complete.
1. The Song of Wolves

Black Gold Legacy

* * *

><p>The Song of Wolves<p>

* * *

><p><strong>FOUR DAYS AGO - TORY<strong>

Kit closes the door behind the officers and collapses into the couch, exhausted. He feels like he doesn't even have enough energy to worry anymore – and he has a lot of reasons to worry. Tory is missing, and all signs point to a runaway. Cooper is gone, her clothes are packed, there is money missing and a substantial amount of food has just vanished. And Kit knows it better than anyone: Tory is highly resourceful. He would almost say she could take care of herself, but…

She is fourteen. She can't. She is young, there are predators out there, people who will take advantage of someone as defenseless as Tory.

Kit grinds the heels of his hands into his eyes, hoping to lessen the burning tiredness behind them. He should sleep, but he hasn't slept in three days. Not since she went out and never came back.

He wakes up when something starts buzzing and shrieking. Kit tumbles off the couch, startled, and the noise rises. He roots through the couch cushions for a moment and comes up with Tory's phone, which has been missing but has no GPS that they could track. The alarm is going off – it's six in the morning. He's slept for over twelve hours.

Blearily, Kit hits buttons until it shuts up, and then he just stares at it. If Tory dies, it will be his fault.

There is a text message icon in the bottom right corner of the phone's screen.

Kit looks at it, head blank for a few frustrated seconds. He knows that is important somehow. The little envelope. But he just can't connect it…

Texts are stored. Tory missed her friends. Tory texted her friends all the time. Tory might have told them something.

Kit hits the icon, misses, backs out to the main screen and tries again. Finally the most recent message pops up. It's from Hiram Stolowitski. See you soon, it says.

Kit pages backwards through the texts.

Leaving now, says Ben Blue. On my way, says Shelton Devers.

Tonight, says Tory. We're leaving tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - TORY<strong>

The girl doesn't look more than sixteen years old, at the most. She walked into the gas station a few minutes ago, and he's been watching her ever since, keeping a close eye on her hands. Kids shoplifting is about his biggest problem this far into the middle of nowhere.

He's watching her, so he notices some things.

Like how she moves quietly, steadily, through the aisles, and keeps the door in the corner of her eye at all time. Her worn-out shoes, like she's done a whole lot of running. The layered clothes, the bulging, old backpack, the dirt on her hands. The greasy, unwashed hair.

Aw, hell. A runaway, he's willing to put money on it.

For longer than he likes to admit, he thinks about just letting it go. Could be she's just poor. But no, when he looks outside there's no cars out there. She either walked or hitched a ride here, and it's miles to the next station, miles of open, unobserved road. The perfect place for a girl like her to disappear.

He does not want to wake up two years from now wondering what happened to her, if she got where she was going, if she's still alive. He has enough of that already.

He moves into the back room, calls the police about a possible runaway, and steps back into the shop just as the girl hits the bell on the counter. There's three packs of jerky on the counter, a gallon of water, and a pack of cigarettes. His eyes travel to the case he keeps the cigarettes in - still locked. What the hell?

He charges her for the jerky and the water, takes his time about it, waiting for the cops to show. He moves the cigarettes off to the side and at the end holds them up for her to see and stows them away under the counter. They're not a brand he carries, so she probably paid for them somewhere else, but it's still illegal. He doesn't know why she put them on the counter - mistake? It doesn't feel like it.

She gives him a secretive smile, and he thinks she looks pleased with him. She heads for the door.

He pauses. Thinks. Too soon for the police to catch her. Goes to the door.

"Hey!" he calls, catching her by the arm just outside.

She whirls, one hand lashing out with all of her momentum behind it. He doesn't get the chance to say anything else. When the hand, that back-handed afterthought of a blow, lands on his shoulder it is with the force of a boulder. He falls to his knees, breath knocked out. He thinks his arm might be broken.

Her eyes are glowing gold.

"I saw you watching me in there." The girl says. "But you didn't let me buy cigarettes, so I figured you were okay. Do you think I'm defenseless?" She pauses, inhales slightly. "Your intent is not malicious, I can tell that. Stop being so afraid. I am not going to hurt you."

She steps back, slowly, carefully. Her eyes are amber - how did he not notice that before?

Then she turns around and breaks into an easy lope that carries her quickly away from his station, but not along the road. She's heading off into the fields, going west.

When the police get there six minutes later, he's still kneeling there, holding a broken arm, staring at where she was long after she's gone. Thinking.

* * *

><p><strong>SEVEN DAYS AGO - TORY<strong>

Tory throws the pile of clothes into her bag, then removes them again and folds each one carefully. There are two sets, not counting what she's wearing, and a leather jacket that is one of Kit's many 'apology' gifts. It is the only one she really likes – mostly because Whitney so obviously disapproves.

The clothes are all dark, unremarkable. Nothing new, nothing old and worn. She doesn't want anyone to remember her.

She doesn't want to be found.

Two minutes ago, Hi finally texted her back. Everything is set up. They are doing it tonight. The pack is going to be whole again, and this gnawing, aching loneliness that has been her only companion will finally be gone. She knows the others have it worse – Tory at least still has Cooper, when the emptiness gets too great.

She's packed up everything important in her room. Clothes, all her pocket money, Cooper's favorite bone. Now she just has to wait.

Two hours later Kit and Whitney finally head up to bed. Tory touches Cooper behind the ear to wake him, and signals him to be quiet. Training him has been her only solace this last month. He's smart and learns fast, even given their preternatural ability to communicate with each other.

Tory's feet are silent down the stairs because she knows where all the creaking steps are. In the kitchen she takes the carving knife. In the living room, she goes to the table her father's wallet sits on and empties it of all the cash. Sixty-three dollars which adds up to hers for three-hundred and four, all told.

Hopefully, that's enough to take her to the west coast.

Tory's always been vaguely in shape, but since the move she's been running for miles every day, to get out of the house, to pass the long hours when there isn't any school and she can't bear to sit still, haunting a place that will never become her home. Coop always follows her on her runs, and it's showing in his legs. They're long and powerful. He looks more like a wolf every day.

Tory's backpack is the hiking kind. It buckles over her shoulders, chest, and waist, securely. She knows it won't get in the way.

Two days ago she looked up what they do about runaways and kidnappings. Amber Alert, pictures in the news, tip lines. They close minor highways and set up checkpoints on major ones. She isn't going to risk that mess.

Tory faces west, and starts running.

The fences she climbs over. The woods hold no shadows to her flaring senses. The night is her bright kingdom, and the air is sweet because she knows that she is heading towards her pack members. She can feel them ahead of her, spread out across the miles, but all of them moving. Running with her. West.

In pure joy, Tory throws back her head and howls. After a heartbeat Cooper joins her. Soon she will howl with three more voices. Soon.

* * *

><p><strong>FIVE WEEKS AGO - TORY<strong>

Tory is the last one to leave the island, as she feels is right. She visits their old base with Coop, one last time, knowing this is one den she can never return to. She circles the whole island on foot, winding up back at the dock where the _Sewee_ used to be tied. There she stares out over the horizon for a long while, until the sun starts setting and she knows Kit must be looking for her.

When Tory returns to the house, everything is packed up and away. Whitney has volunteered to drive the moving van to give Tory and Kit time to talk, but Tory has nothing to say to him. Some small part of her had still believed that adults were all-powerful, and could do anything. That part is gone. Kit just looks small and human now.

He does not look like family, like pack.

In the car, Tory is silent even though she can feel Kit preparing for an explosion from her. Cooper is in the back, whimpering with every mile between them and home.

"Tory," Kit sighs, finally. He seems ready to give a speech.

"Don't." Tory warns him. "Think this conversation through. Nothing you can say will make me feel better. It might even make things worse. You're wasting your breath and both of our lives."

Kit thumps the wheel in anger. "Dammit, Tory, I have to at least _try_ to get you to believe that this isn't the end of the world."

Tory feels that tearing pain in her chest again. Her pack is so very far away. They can't protect each other. She stares out the window of the car and murmurs quietly to herself, "But it is."

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - TORY<strong>

Tory stops suddenly, pausing almost mid-step. She faces the dawning sky and inhales the breeze. Something is wrong.

Tory's been flaring for hours now, since she started running from that middle-of-nowhere gas station. She feels fine - not tired at all, though Coop beside her is taking deep, long breaths. They both look like they could go for miles more at this pace, if it were not for that part of Tory that tells her something isn't right.

She searches deep within herself, and finds the answer there.

It isn't her trouble she is sensing, but her pack's. Hiram has been captured. She doesn't know how she can know that, but he isn't moving any more, and from his astral self she is sensing an overwhelming despair.

Tory growls, and Cooper begins howling again. She joins him, howling to Hi that she is coming for him.

Far, far away, she knows he can hear them.


	2. The Skin of Dogs

Black Gold Legacy

* * *

><p>Chapter Two: The Skin of Dogs<p>

* * *

><p><strong>NOW – HIRAM<strong>

Miles away and so far apart, Hi imagines he can hear wolves howling. The song is a beautiful croon that hovers just on the edge of a whine, caring and worried. The singer is coming for him.

He only hopes she is not too late.

* * *

><p><strong>FOUR HOURS AGO – HIRAM<strong>

Hi saunters easily into the supermarket, trying to look less out of place than he feels. He can hear the buzz of florescent lights, even though he's not flaring. It doesn't feel comfortable in here, not with his face on every news station within miles of his house.

For energy on the go, and food that's light and won't perish while he runs, Hi goes searching for the beef jerky. Conscious of the black-capped cameras above, Hi pulls his baseball hat lower over his eyes. When he finds the jerky, six bags go under his loose hoodie and another two into his hands. He walks normally to the checkout counters, stands patiently in line, steps up to the cashier.

She smiles at him, starts to greet him, and stops with one hand going to the wire in her ear. When she looks at Hi again her smile is brittle. Hi thinks if he were Tory he would smell her unease. Almost fear – but not quite. Not yet.

"Sir," she says with that fake, fragile smile. "If you could please step over here for me." Her tone makes it more than a suggestion. Hi wonders what the chances are that someone was watching that one camera exactly as he snatched the jerky.

His eyes slide around the scene very carefully, catching on two different security guards who are both carefully looking away but still converging on him.

Hi isn't stupid. He can see a trap when it's closing on him. He just isn't prepared for this – thought he was, had made plans to talk his way out or just cut and run, but now he can't think of them. He can only think about those two enemies, drawing closer and closer, backing him into a corner, and Hi feels the wild whirling mind of the hunted wolf. He does not like it.

**SNAP**.

Barely any time has passed since the cashier spoke, but long enough that she is frowning and backing away, shooting worried glances at the oblivious line behind him. Her eyes dart back to him, away, and then quickly back again, registering fully what she had previously only glimpsed.

"Your eyes - " she starts to say, but that's when the first security guard reaches Hi.

"Please come with me, sir." The guard says as his hand reaches for Hi's shoulder. Hi ducks and twists under his hold, comes up with the heel of his left hand under the guard's chin, smashing his teeth together in the wrong fit. The guard stumbles backward, blood gushing from his mouth and his half-severed tongue.

Numb horror creeps over Hi even as the second guard cries out in shock, and hits Hi with the taser gun.

* * *

><p><strong>SEVEN DAYS AGO – HIRAM<strong>

Hi doesn't know what has happened today that makes Tory suddenly decide to make their escape plans a reality. For a long time Hi has thought that their plans are just so many dreams, like wolves pacing at the bars of the cage, imagining a life outside but unable to get there.

For much longer than that Hi has known that nothing stops Victoria Brennan, not cages, not rules, and certainly not reason.

It doesn't even cross Hi's mind to refuse her. Before they were Virals, she was still the leader of their group, but as wolves now they see her as an alpha, a queen. On all the things that matter, they will follow wherever she may lead.

Into the wild. Into the unknown.

And she will protect them.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW – TORY<strong>

Closer than Hi, Tory can feel Ben. He's still going West, doesn't realize that something's wrong.

This is why they need her. To keep them together.

She calls him to her, feels him freeze in the middle of talking a truck driver into giving him a ride. Ben wasn't doing a very good job of it anyway, and when he appears to be suddenly distracted and twitches violently, the trucker turns away muttering about kids on drugs. Tory knows all of this like it's her standing there, but she has other things to think about right now.

She can feel Ben's confusion. She calls him again, pulling on that tether that makes him her pack, like pulling him towards her. Reflexively, he turns to face her direction from miles and miles away.

Come to me, Tory is thinking. Pack trouble come now come to me help come fast trouble pack fast come now.

She follows with him as he drags a man out of his car, knocks him out and leaves him tied up in the trunk, and starts driving. She checks the highway he's on and the map in her backpack. Then she reaches out to the weakest tether, Shelton, already in California. From him she gets a sense of crushing loneliness, briefly lightened by her presence with him. He is somewhere dark, rocking - the belly of a ship.

Pack trouble pack, she sends to him. Stay trouble stay safe pack safe stay. Stay. Help bad. Stay.

There are no words in this speech for stay where you are safe, do not come to help. But she knows he understands anyway.

Tory checks her map, her route, and whistles Cooper in from his hunt. They start running again.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - HIRAM<strong>

His face is pressed against the concrete wall, and he's listening. The pull is so strong. He heard it when she called Ben. Come now come to me, how he wants to. But he is caged.

They are coming for him, though.

* * *

><p><strong>FIVE WEEKS AGO - HIRAM<strong>

It isn't like he doesn't try to make friends. He's friendly. He smiles. He sees hints of qualities he likes in his peers and thinks they would be people he'd like to get to know better.

Except they aren't

Maybe they can see something about him that even he can not. That his heart is never in his smiles, that his mind belongs to other people. That when he truly looks he finds them lacking. The girl who has Tory's bossy attitude has none of her sense and humor. The boy who is tall and dark and quiet like Ben has none of Ben's intelligence. The people who should be around him are not, and these copies pale in comparison.

The loneliness is the worst. Even his family can not cure it, though they try. They treat him like glass for a while, until some grace period passes and they decide he's just sulking, now, and being unreasonable about it. Hi prefers the latter, if only because when they were more concerned for him they kept a closer eye, and noticed that he spends hours in his room, video chatting, or on his phone, texting.

Hi feels like he's holding onto his sanity by holding onto his friends. Else the hunger for something that isn't there (pack) might eat him whole.

Then Tory starts talking about escape.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - HIRAM<strong>

The police officer's uniform says 'Lopez' when he comes to collect Hiram, even though he looks about as Hispanic as Hi looks black - not at all, that is. Officer Lopez stands at the bars of the cell for a moment, staring at Hi, and then asks, "Are you diabetic?"

"What?" Hi asks, intelligently.

"Are you diabetic?" Officer Lopez repeats patiently.

For a moment the condescending tone sets off an itch in the back of Hi's brain, a tickle of anger that will grow into a flare if he wants it to. He recognizes it as a part of the wolf, who wants to stand up and show this opponent just who ranks where. Hi ignores it.

"No." Hi says.

Officer Lopez looks to his left, around a corner and out of Hi's sight. Another officer comes into view, opens the barred door of the cell (cage) and steps back. The new one's uniform claims his name is Perry.

Lopez comes into the cell slowly, with seemingly exaggerated movements. Hi wonders if this is special treatment or if it's always supposed to be like this. Obediently, Hi put his hands out in front of him when asked to, though it almost kills him to feel the cold steel closing around his wrists. More cages. Smaller but stronger. The handcuffs rattle happily at him.

Hi regards them for a moment and then turns to officer Lopez, who has stepped back in an obvious invitation for Hi to leave the cell. He holds up his wrists. "These aren't really my color. Do you have them in a different style?"

Officer Perry holds back an involuntary snort of laughter, and Lopez glares at him. He pushes Hi out of the cell ahead of him, and Perry locks it behind. Hi wonders why. Are they afraid that people will try to get into a cell?

Hi is led through a few narrow, twisting halls, and inevitably finds himself lost. He only know that _that _way lies north, _that _way lies pack-family, and _that _way lies his cell. In front of him is a small room with one window, barred over, a metal table and two chairs.

The table and chairs are bolted to the floor, and on top of the table is another raised bar, where officer Lopez attaches his handcuffs.

"Do they pay you extra to be silent and threatening all the time, or do you consider that to just be a perk of your job?" Hi asks. Lopez grunts and presses Hi into the chair.

Hi sits, and waits. He doesn't have long.

Another uniform comes in, introduces himself as 'Alex'. Hi thinks Alex looks like kind of a jerk, but that could just be the fact that Alex looks so very cheery and Hi's just not feeling it.

Alex sits down across from Hi and starts talking. Hi doesn't hear a lot of it, because he's focused within himself, trying to calm the wolf as he feels Tory and Ben nearing him. They are still so very far away, but getting closer, coming for him.

He tunes back in to hear 'runaway' and 'parents worried' and 'coming here'. Hi closes his eyes as the flare washes over him with a sickening sort of slowness. It has not been brought on by anger or adrenaline, but pure fear. That if his parents come here, if he has to face them and their heartbreak, he'll never be able to leave again. That would be like making the choice, between Tory and his mother, between pack-family and blood-family, and he's afraid he knows what will win.

He reaches within himself and finds Tory there, and howls to her, come faster now rival danger faster come come come.


	3. The Eyes of Foxes

Black Gold Legacy

* * *

><p>The Eyes of Foxes<p>

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - BEN<strong>

The silver car pulls off to the side of the road smoothly, hazard lights flashing at the other drivers. The shoulder is easily wide enough. The driver puts it in park and pulls up on the emergency brake. He doesn't turn off the engine.

The slim form of a young girl comes scrambling up the side of the road, sliding beneath the guardrail easily enough, and still crouched low reaches for the passenger door. Inside the car, Ben hits the lock release.

Tory yanks the door open, waving Cooper inside with her other hand. The wolfdog jumps and lands gracefully, winding his way between the bucket seats to the back.

"Owner?" Tory asks.

"In the trunk."

She thinks for a moment. "If we dump him, he calls the police, reports a stolen car, and we're back on the radar."

"That's why he's still in the trunk."

"A temporary fix. We'll let him go after we've gotten Hi and far away. Speak silently, or not at all. He cannot be allowed to hear where we're going."

Ben nods easily, and she climbs in the seat, buckling the seatbelt. He pulls back onto the highway, merging with his head on a swivel the whole time. Further up the road they'll have to get onto another highway, but for now there's just the engine and Cooper's breathing.

Ben looks at her. "You've changed," he says.

Tory doesn't look back. "I've had to. The girl I was could not have done this. She could only dream... I become who I need to be... who my pack needs me to be. An alpha."

Ben murmurs: "A queen."

* * *

><p><strong>SEVEN DAYS AGO - BEN<strong>

Leaving is, for Ben, one of the easiest and hardest things he's ever had to do.

It's easy in practice, because his parents trust him and they don't think he's stupid enough to run off. It's so difficult for the same reason. Breaking their trust - they're his family. He knows that he'll always be safe with them. But not if he leaves. If he leaves, he betrays them. They'll never look at him like that again, like he can do nothing that can't be forgiven.

But Ben needs more than just safety. He can feel it like an empty pit in his stomach, a primal hunger that food doesn't cure, the need for pack. To be with people who understand, and know, and are like him. The genetic code he once shared with his parents has been rewritten; his closest relatives are now Tory and Hi and Shelton and Cooper. Pack.

That's why he betrays his parents. That's why he leaves, and why he's never going back.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - HIRAM<strong>

When the flare fades from Hi in just a few moments, he realizes that the cop, Alex, has stopped talking. Hi is almost certain that he's been asked a question, but for the last minute or so the plain English coming out of the man's mouth has sounded garbled and incomprehensible, like another language. The last time he felt this foreign was the first day of his French class, when the teacher spoke nothing but French for the first ten minutes as a demonstration.

Hi stares dumbly at Alex, hoping he'll repeat the question and that he'll understand it this time. He doesn't trust himself to speak right now.

Alex shifts uncomfortably, and Hi can read his mind in his body language. He thinks Hi doesn't look dangerous but he's on his guard because he's been warned about what Hi did to the rent-a-cop. He thinks Hi might be on drugs. He thinks Hi's a little slow in the head.

Hi grins stupidly at Alex and asks, "Food?" lifting up his cuffed hands. The word, when it comes out, is formed with greatest care. His mouth hadn't wanted to work the way it needed to for speech. It just adds to the illusion that he's not the brightest bulb.

Alex smiles back at Hi and Hi sees the moment he decides that Hi is essentially harmless. "Yeah, okay," Alex says. "I'll find you something to eat. But first can you answer some questions?"

Hi keeps the stupid look on his face and nods eagerly. This is going to be easy, he thinks.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - BEN<strong>

Three hours later, Tory has the map out again and is guiding him through a medium-sized town to the police station. They park in the wide lot outside it, turn the lights off, and sit in silence for a few long seconds.

"I... didn't actually think it through this far." Tory admits.

"Same here. Brainstorm?"

"Hang on, I'll see what's going on with Hi."

Tory looks inside. It's easy now, to withdraw so far that she starts reflecting out again, and in this mirrored world there exists only four things of importance: Hi, Ben, Shelton, Cooper. Her pack.

She finds Hi and stands with him, in a concrete room with one window, the light outside failing at twilight. There's someone else here - he's sharp in her mind with the amount of focus Hi is giving him. Hi's eating something tasteless. The man is talking about Hi's parents. How worried they are. How they're coming for him.

They're just hours away.

"We have two hours," Tory says aloud, pulling away from Hi. "Then his parents will be here."

"We need a plan." Ben says again.

There is a loud thump from the trunk as their unwilling passenger finally wakes up.

Tory looks at Ben out of the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction as she says, "I think I have an idea."

* * *

><p><strong>TWO HOURS AGO - TORY<strong>

She doesn't actually know how to drive, but a crash course from Ben has given her some idea and she doesn't need to go far anyway. She keeps her eyes glued to the road and her mind on the pressure she's putting on the pedals. Pretty soon none of this will matter, but first she has to arrive in one piece.

There's a perfect spot just off the main roads of the town. It's hill country out here, and all the roads have to yield to nature's steep inclines and low marshes. She can cut the distance in half on foot but the asphalt paths wind around in circles to get where they're going.

She turns the car into a sharp turn, hits the brakes harder than she means to, an jerks forward in her seat. The car is now stopped across both lanes in the middle of a blind turn. Just where she needs it to be.

Quickly, Tory takes a look around and removes her shirt. She uses it to wipe down the steering wheel, door handles, dashboard, and gear shift, anything they might have touched. She isn't sure that the job is perfect, but she has to be fast. They're on a time limit.

When that's done she puts the shirt back on and checks her watch. An hour and a half left. She can see the shine of headlights coming around the bend, not yet reflecting off the car's dark silver armor.

She feels the sudden heat of the flare first, and then the farmland and sparse woods come into focus around her, as bright as daylight. She can hear the man in the trunk, his heart beating fast.

On her way past the back of the car, she thumps a fist down on the trunk. He starts thrashing in response, and she smiles.

* * *

><p><strong>TWO HOURS AGO - BEN<strong>

The third house he tries, the door is unlocked. Ben opens it slowly, alert for any creaking hinges, and slips inside. Nobody is around to see, but he feels like he's being watched anyway.

Inside the house he finds the kitchen at the back and turns on all four burners. There are some dishtowels in a drawer next to the stove; he lays these out over the burners, which give quiet groaning sounds as they heat to life.

Ben doesn't wait around to see the fire start. As he climbs the stairs he smells smoke.

In the first bedroom there's just a television and a box overfilled with children's toys, and a wide open area for playing. In the second, two kids in bunk beds. Ben takes a risk and doesn't wake them right away. The room at the end of the hall is the master bedroom, where the kid's parents sleep.

Ben shakes the mother awake first, and as she sits up with a gasp he darts around the end and rolls the father halfway off the bed.

"Hurry!" Ben says, his voice scratching and high. It's part disguise and partially because the smoke has started affecting his breathing. "Fire! Hurry!"

The fire alarms start going off then, proving him right. Neither parent asks him who he is or what he's doing; they throw open the doors and collect their children, who look so very young. Ben hovers behind, ushering them out even though it doesn't seem like they need it.

The family makes it out the front door through a haze of smoke, couching and holding on to each other. The mother and father look around for the man who warned them, but he's vanished.

Later, the father will tell the police the man was wearing a bandanna over the bottom half of his face, dark red.

The mother will say, "His eyes were glowing yellow."

* * *

><p><strong>TWO HOURS AGO - COOPER<strong>

Cooper wags his tail at the little girl, and she glances doubtfully up at her mother before looking back to him. Cooper whines and lays down on the ground, rolling over to present his stomach.

The girl's mother is muttering about the line at the checkout, flicking through a magazine she has no intention of buying. The girl tells her mother she's going to go look at the gumball machines outside the supermarket, and the woman gives her a vague affirmative. She squeaks and runs out the automatic sliding doors.

Cooper stands up to meet her, puts his cold nose into her hair and sniffs. She giggles loudly and buries small, clean fingers in the thick fur around his neck, tugging.

Cooper bears this with dignity until she starts scrunching her fingers wildly behind his ears, which hurts more than it feels good, but he's been given a job and he knows what to do.

He rushes forward, knocking the girl onto her behind. She goes with a quiet huff and doesn't start crying, just looks startled and bemused. Cooper delicately digs his teeth into her jacket's hood and pulls. Soon she's laughing aloud and squirming as he drags her backward, away from the supermarket,

Five minutes later her mother will come out of the supermarket and look at the desolate gumball machines. She'll call her daughter's name and there will be no answer.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - TORY<strong>

Tory meets up with Ben and Cooper with an hour to spare. Of all their jobs she had been worried about Cooper the most, but he's smart and he's done good. The little girl next to him can't be more than three years old, and she doesn't look happy. She pouting and telling Cooper that she wants to go home now. Cooper's just standing there, her jacket caught between his teeth.

Ben melts out of the scenery when Tory appears in the alley, hanging back as she goes to the little girl.

"What's your name?" Tory asks.

"Madison Black." Madison says. "Where's my mommy?"

Tory smiles at her and catches her under the arms. It seems the most natural thing in the world to set the girl on her hip, then, and Madison arranges herself automatically. "Well, Maddie," Tory looks up at the moon and then at her watch. There's a plume of smoke in the sky. "I don't know where your mommy is but I bet we can find her at the police station. Do you want to come with me?"

Madison chews this over for a moment. "Okay."

"Okay then. I'm Tara, this puppy here is Coop, and my friend over there is Blake."

Madison regards Ben critically. "Does he have cooties?"

Tory smiles again, watching Ben suppress a fit of nervous laughter.

"Yes, ma'am," Tory drawls. "But don't worry, I'll keep you safe from him."

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - HIRAM<strong>

Hi can feel them ranging far and wide across the town. He wonders what they're doing. He wonders why they haven't come for him yet.

Alex pokes his head in Hi's new room and says, "Good news. Your parents are just pulling in."


	4. The Claws of Jackals

Black Gold Legacy

* * *

><p>The Claws of Jackals<p>

* * *

><p><strong>FIVE HOURS AGO - SHELTON<strong>

Shelton's almost certain that he's safe to hide in this boat. The freshest scent of human is at least six days old and the sky is clouded over and threatening rain. Not nearly the right weather for going out.

The boat smells a little bit like fish, but more like saltwater. He guesses it hasn't been used for fishing all that often. It's certainly equipped for more leisure boating than fishing; there's a tiny, uncomfortable bed under the bow and enough imperishable food to feed Shelton for another week.

Shelton hates the boat.

It rocks all the time, it stinks of saltwater, and worst of all it's keeping him from Tory and the rest of his pack. He briefly entertains the thought of ignoring her orders, pretending he hadn't understood what she was trying to say, but dismisses it before it goes further. He doesn't want to break Tory's trust - not when she might be the only person in the world who still trusts him.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - TORY<strong>

She walks into the police station with Madison on her hip and Ben sliding in behind her. She goes right up to the front desk and hefts Madison a little higher on her hip, and says, "I found her wandering around 5th Street. She says she's lost her mom, but she doesn't know where she lives."

The woman behind the desk takes about two seconds to look surprised. Then she picks up the phone and pages someone, and someone else, and suddenly a frantic, sobbing mother swoops down on Tory and snatches Madison away. Maddie is shrieking, "Mommy!" and the woman is crying and holding her so close, there are two police officers trying to calm everyone down, and in all of this confusion Tory and Ben slip further into the station.

* * *

><p><strong>TWO HOURS AGO - SHELTON<strong>

He's just opening another can of peaches when the call comes from Tory. It sweeps through him with its power, with how loud she's sending it.

**come fast fast fast come fast here trouble fast fast fast**

And for the first time it's not just vague ideas from the part of him that is wolf. Behind that, like a washed out watermark, he can see the shape of an idea. It is the idea of a bird in flight. Fast fast fast.

She wants him driving.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - BEN<strong>

"Hi is this way." Tory says, her eyes closed. She opens them again and they're glowing amber. Ben has time to hear **FLARE** before his senses kick into overdrive.

Tory leads him through a dozen twisting halls, past doors, up two separate flights of stairs and for some reason down another.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Ben asks. Before they became Viral's he'd have been panting after this much running, but now he just takes deep breaths from the diaphragm and jogs along behind her.

"Vaguely," Tory admits, holding a hand flat out to the side and tilting it back and forth to demonstrate. "I thought he was above us but there's a sort of mid-level floor, I think. Ah. Here. He's in one of these rooms."

They're facing a short hall lined with two doors on each side. They split and each check a side, but suddenly Ben finds himself crushed into the half-open door, pushed through it, and stumbling into a small, windowless room. He whirls, expecting a fight, but it's Tory behind him. She's peeking out of the door, letting it open just a crack. Ben joins her, and sees a police officer, one of the two from downstairs. It seems like their plan has worked; with the accident with the man in the trunk, the fire, and the kidnapping, all but two of the police officers are out around town and not here to hinder them.

The officer enters one of the rooms they haven't checked yet, the one with a window, and Hi shuffles out of the room before him, hands held in cuffs, looking awful and like he hasn't slept in days, but still Hi.

Hi's eyes find them right away, and he stares. Then he has to move, let the officer out too, and he looks away, trying not to let on that anything's wrong.

When the officer closes the door behind himself and turns his back on Tory and Ben, Ben swings the door open softly, silently, takes three fast, silent steps on the linoleum tile, and brings two clasped hands down hard on the top of the man's head. His eyes roll back and he crumples just as silently, sprawling out over the hall.

Ben mostly ignores this, because he's too busy hugging all the breath out of Hi. Two more arms join in as Tory catches up.

"Knew you'd find me - " Hi says.

"Of course - " Ben says.

"Took you long enough - "

"You didn't make it easy." Tory says, grinning.

Hi frowns. "But we still have to get out of here, and I have these." He held up his wrists.

Tory kneels and digs through the officer's pockets, eventually coming up with a little key. She inserts it and tries to turn, but it doesn't budge. Hi sighs.

"Hang on," Tory tilts the key, jams it a little, and finally the handcuffs click open. "I was doing it wrong."

They're all laughing then, an outlet of all the stress of the last few hours. Before it turns hysterical, Tory pulls herself together, and kicks the other two until they do too.

"Don't celebrate yet. We still have to get out. This way."

Because none of them know another way out and finding one could take longer than they have, they head for the front door. Right outside the lobby, Hi pauses with his nose in the air. "Tory," his voice is tight.

Tory inhales slightly, and smells it: lavender and cedar. Hi's mother uses a lavender-scented hair product and his father's hobby is making cedar birdhouses. His parents are here.

"We have to leave." Tory says softly to him. Hi's eyes are scrunched closed tight and he looks in pain. "You can stay. None of us would blame you if you stayed. I can't ask you to stand in front of your parents and choose us."

Hi's eyes, when he opens them, glow brightly golden. "I knew it might come to this." he says. "I accepted it when I ran away. I didn't mean to, didn't want to, I wish it weren't one or the other. But I made my choice and going back on it - " he shudders violently " - I can't do that. I can't go back. Just seeing you two again feels like coming in from a blizzard and sitting in front of a fire. I hadn't realized how _cold_ - " his eyes meet Tory's, then Ben's, and flick out to the lobby. Just around the corner, his parents are talking to an officer. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>TWO HOURS AGO - SHELTON<strong>

Acquiring a car is by far the most difficult part of this venture. He has no idea how to hotwire, and thinks the odds of him learning in the next two minutes are zero to none. So he has to find a car with car keys, which is the problem.

But after a few minutes of brainstorming how to make that happen, he realizes he has better odds of suddenly learning how to hotwire a car.

There's a library a five-minute jog away from the marina he's squatting in. They're about closing up for the night, and give him dirty looks when he comes in asking for computer time. They tell him he has ten minutes to get in and get out; Shelton doesn't plan on using any more than three.

Two fast google searches later, he finds a personal blog that looks promising. He just needs a screwdriver and an older-model car. Luckily, Shelton comes prepared for everything and actually has a screwdriver, on the end of a Swiss-army knife. Unluckily, it needs to be at least three inches long and his is barely one.

Then he has the sudden flash of a screwdriver lying in the toolbox on his hiding boat.

Three broken car windows later (the trick didn't work on the first two) the car sputters to life underneath him, and Shelton smiles in triumph.

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - HIRAM<strong>

After their flares have faded, they step into the lobby together, Hi framed by Ben on his left and Tory on his right. They aren't noticed right away, and don't wait to be. Quickly, quietly, they keep their heads down going for the glass double doors.

"Stop!" Someone shouts behind them.

Hi jumps and turns so fast it actually leaves him spinning. He keeps his eyes on the police officer, whose hand is one his gun but not pulling, and he carefully doesn't look at his parents. But he can still see them out of the corner of his eye, his father's arm around his mother, his mother's hand at her mouth. She looks like she's been crying; he just looks angry. Hi knows that's how his father does grief and sadness. He gets angry, shouts, but never hits anything.

"Stop right there," The cop says. It's Alex. He's shaking.

Hi holds up his hands with Tory and Ben. Tory says, "We're just leaving. Let us go."

Alex shakes his head. "They told me you were probably playing me," he says to Hi. "I didn't want to believe it. I know you're not bad kids, your parents didn't raise a bad kid. Just come with me, step away from the door."

Tory shakes her head, steps forward. Alex tenses further, draws the gun but leaves it pointed at the floor. Tory watches his every movement. "Don't do that," she says. "We don't want anyone hurt."

"Hiram Stolowitski, stop this nonsense!" His mother interrupts, on the edge of hysteria. "Stop this! You're coming home with us!"

"I can't, mom," Hi wishes she could understand. But she can't know what he is now, no one can know or they won't be safe, and he can't explain it in a way that would make her see. "I'm not coming home with you. You're - it's not my home anymore." He almost says that she isn't his home, but he thinks that would break her heart, and he wants anything but to hurt her.

She turns crying into his father, who only glares and is silent.

Alex tries to regain control of the situation by raising his gun. "No one's going anywhere right now, so we can all calm down, alright?" he says.

"Stop waving that thing around," Tory snaps. "You're going to get hurt."

Alex makes a point to face the gun at the floor again, and then tells them to step away from the door, put their hands up.

Tory says, "Coop."

For a second Hi sees a flash of gold eyes and white fangs, and then a huge wolfdog is darting out of the corner behind Alex and Hi's parents. It goes ghost-like, not even growling as in half a second it latches onto Alex's right wrist, the one holding the gun, and clamps down. Alex screams and drops the gun, tries pulling his hand back to himself and rips the skin and muscle open further, to the bone. Coop growls, shakes his head like they're just playing tug-of-war, and Alex faints.

"Coop." Tory says again. The wolfdog gives one last look to the pale, unconscious man and goes to Tory's side. "I'm sorry," she says to Hi's parents. "You want to call for an ambulance when we leave. He's losing a lot of blood, and there's an officer upstairs who might have a concussion."

Tory takes Hi's hand and leads him through the doors, Cooper on her other side, Ben walking backwards and covering their escape. Outside, she gives Cooper an annoyed look and says, "I told you to stay hidden outside."

Cooper doesn't look at all apologetic. It would be a difficult look to pull off with his muzzle stained dark red anyway.

"How do we go from here?" Hi asks.

Tory smiles softly. "I've arranged a ride. Here he comes."

An older car comes barreling down the center of the deserted street, and slams to a sudden halt in front of the station. The passenger side door pops open to reveal Shelton, leaning over in the driver's seat and staring at them.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this driving thing," he says.


	5. The Teeth of Coyotes

Black Gold Legacy

* * *

><p>The Teeth of Coyotes<p>

* * *

><p><strong>INTERVIEW<strong>

"Well, I knew she was a runaway," Arthur Shay explains, "on account of how she was dressed. And there wasn't a car out there fueling up, wasn't anybody around for miles. So I knew she had to have walked. And so young - I was certain she was a runaway."

"From beginning to end, tell me exactly what happened."

"She came in, and I started watching her 'cause kids like to steal stuff, yeah? So I was watching and I noticed how dirty she was. 's when I pegged her for a runner. I went in back to call it into the cops, 'cause I know no parent deserves that sort of worry. When I came back out she was at the counter. She had... water, some beef jerky - the real stuff, not that store-brand shit that don't keep well, actual dried beef. And a pack of cigs. But I know all the brands I carry and it wasn't one of 'em.

"So I rang her up for the jerky and the water, and kept the cigs back because she had no business with them, and then she smiled at me. See, at the time I was confused, but now I think it was her way of testing me, and damn smart, too. I musta made her nervous with the staring. When I didn't give her the cigs, I proved I wasn't some slimeball pervert.

"Then she goes to leave and I'm thinking, another few minutes til the cops get here. I gotta stall her. I go out, catch her arm... and wham!" Arthur flinches violently in place. He knocks the cast on his arm and hisses in a pained breath. "This happens. Must've been wearing some kinda weights or had fists of steel or something, 'cause she broke my arm easy." He falls into a contemplative silence, staring at the table.

"Is that all?"

Arthur looks up. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess." He stands, gathering his coat from the back of the chair, shrugging it on one shoulder and laying it over the cast. "You know, it was a funny thing. I was in some much pain for a minute there that when I saw her eyes I thought they were yellow or gold or something, y'know, like a cat's..." He laughs nervously, checking to see if his offhand comment draws any suspicion. "Or a wolf's..."

* * *

><p><strong>INTERVIEW<strong>

Madison Black says, "I liked her. She was nice and promised to protect me. She had a puppy named Coop."

"Did she tell you her name?"

"She was Tara, and there was a boy there called Blake." Suddenly the girl giggles and leans forward in her mother's arms to whisper, "I think they were married. She wasn't afraid of cooties at all!"

* * *

><p><strong>INTERVIEW<strong>

Al and Leah West say the same things in two very different ways.

"He was wearing a red bandanna over his face," says Al. "His voice was high - like the fake kind of high when someone's prank calling you and trying to disguise their voice. He woke us up and got us out of the house in plenty of time. Just then I was grateful, but the bastard had to have set my house on fire, too. Will you let me know when you catch him?"

"He woke us up and told us to get out." says Leah. "I know he must have started the fire, but I can't imagine why. Why would someone do that and then risk themselves trying to get us out? Unless he didn't want to be a murderer, but... oh, it'll never make sense to me. I hope you catch him. He must be dangerous, even if he does try to help the people he puts in danger."

"Thank you for your input. This could be very helpful to our investigation."

"That's it, then?" Leah asks. "I thought it'd be more like in the movies. More shouting." She stands up anyway, and watches the tape recorder click off.

"Strange, though," she starts to say. "You might think I'm silly, or a bit too poetic, but in the firelight, it looked like his eyes were glowing. They looked gold."

* * *

><p><strong>INTERVIEW<strong>

"I don't know anything about those little demons," Noah Sheppard snaps. "The guy knocked me out and put me in my own trunk! The girl - I know it was her, she never talked but I know, she's a horrible driver - left me to die there, parked across the road. When that car hit I thought the world was ending!"

"Did they say anything? What do you remember?"

"They said plenty, and I was listening. Anything I can do to help, just let me know - oh, yeah, well, the girl told the guy not to talk about certain stuff, so I wouldn't overhear. But you just can't do a two-hour drive in total silence. They were looking for someone called 'Hi' and planning to get him from somewhere. They had maps but didn't really know how to get where they were going. They called each other Ben and Tory. That's about all I know. Oh! Yeah, and I think they were a part of some wacko cult or something, or I don't know, but they were both talking about a 'pack' a lot. Like they thought they were wolves or dogs." Noah grunts and settles lower in his seat. "Had a dog named Cooper, too. Damn thing pissed in my back seat."

* * *

><p><strong>INTERVIEW<strong>

Diana Smith chews on a lock of her hair thoughtfully. "Well..." she says around it. "I got the note from my radio as he stepped up, like usual. I've had to do that once before, but it doesn't get easier. The other girls have told me that usually they don't get violent but you can never be sure... Anyway. He looked pretty normal. Kind of cute I guess, but a little young for me. Security told me to pull him, so I did, or I tried. He got this really shady look. I thought he was gonna bolt.

"Then out of nowhere there's two guards coming in to take him to the office, and I'm just as surprised as he is. But he... hang on." Diana frowns, chewing another piece of hair, and seems to compose herself. "So, first the guard goes to put a hand on him, his shoulder, but the kid kind of ducks and twists, and hits him under the jaw with the heel of his hand, and I'm like, shit, a real live ninja.

"But then the other one tags him with the stun gun and he goes down like a rock. The first guard's bleeding 'cuz he pretty much bit his tongue off. I'm screaming, because, well, blood and ninjas and really it's the end of my shift anyway."

"Was there anything else you wanted to say?"

"That's pretty much it. Nothing special. Don't know why you're taking shoplifting so serious, anyway. I'm pretty sure the kid didn't mean to do that - but damn if it didn't look pretty cool. It was weird, though. Right before the guards got there he just looked at me like it was sinking in that he was caught, and the way those stupid yellow lights came off his eyes, it made them look almost kinda... golden."

* * *

><p><strong>ONE HOUR AGO - KIT<strong>

There's a knock on his door, and it's a knock Kit's come to recognize. It has all the authority of the law behind it, and none of the politeness to go away if he doesn't feel like answering. He rubs his eyes and gives up on trying to sleep.

There's a man behind the door, taller than Kit but not by much, tan skin, cheap suit, and dark running shoes. He has a bag over his shoulder big enough for a good-sized laptop. He holds out his hand with an amiable smile that doesn't reach his eyes. When he shakes it, Kit can feel two heavy rings.

"Christopher Howard?" The man asks.

Kit nods. "Yeah, but I prefer Kit. You're here about Tory?"

"Yes I am. May I come in?"

Kit gives a silent sigh and steps aside, motioning for the man to come in. "Any news?" Kit asks, closing the door.

"Some." The man says vaguely. "My name is Desmond Ratheson. I've taken over your daughter's case in light of some troubling new evidence."

"What? What's wrong? Has something happened?" Kit demands, stepping into Ratheson's personal space.

"One could say that. You are aware that your daughter and three friends appear to have collaborated to all run away together and meet up somewhere, correct?"

"Yeah. I'm the one who turned in the phone. Before that, I had no idea that she was working with Ben and Hi and Shelton."

"They were all unusually smart about escaping, demonstrating a determination to not be found that is quite frankly only seen in felons and children from battered homes. Usually children run away for the attention. Your home is obviously not broken, so one can only wonder."

"I knew she missed her friends, but I didn't think this much."

"Indeed. And you do not yet know all of it. Mr. Howard, something happened last night. It looks like Tory and her friends may have been behind it and a number of other crimes ranging all across the States."

* * *

><p><strong>NOW - DESMOND<strong>

Desmond folds himself into the tiny Bureau-provided car and sits there for a moment, thinking. Howard had not reacted well to the news that his daughter was running around setting fires, stealing cars, and kidnapping people. He'd all but thrown Desmond out, but that was to be expected. Howard sees Victoria Brennan only as she wants him to see her. Innocent, maybe a little trouble-making, but good at heart.

Desmond doesn't doubt the good heart. No one had been killed in her entire group's escapades, but there were several severe injuries and sooner or later a mistake will be made. Someone will die.

Desmond hadn't even expressed his worst concern; that Victoria and her 'pack' are sharing some sort of delusion. At best they are dangerously dependent upon one another; it takes a certain kind of friendship to orchestrate the kind of jailbreak they had, and a certain kind of mindset. Desmond has the dark feeling that Victoria Brennan will do anything for her pack, up to and including murder. This time, in this place, they have avoided it. But what about the next time it happens?

And he is sure there will be a next time. People like Tory don't just vanish.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's End of Story Note<span>**: So, just realized that I left the perfect opening for a sequel. 'People like Tory don't just vanish.' It's almost like I planned that.

Waaaaiiiit. No, can't be. I can't plan anything.

Say thank you to the wonderful reviewers for this thing ever getting finished. Without that motivation it would have just sat and gathered dust. Special mention to Whispers of Silence, I someday wish to be able to write reviews like they do.

**EDIT:** Sequel is complete and posted, under the title Red Iron Symphony.


End file.
